ap10 us history q3

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AP® UNITED STATES HISTORY

2010 SCORING GUIDELINES

© 2010 The College Board.

Visit the College Board on the Web: www.collegeboard.com.

Question 3

Analyze the ways in which controversy over the extension of slavery into western territories contributedto the coming of the Civil War. Confine your answer to the period 1845–1861.

The 8–9 Essay• Contains a clear, well-developed thesis that explains the ways in which the controversy over the

extension of slavery into western territories from 1845–1861 contributed to the coming of the CivilWar.

• Develops the thesis with substantial, relevant historical information on how the controversy overthe extension of slavery into western territories from 1845–1861 contributed to the coming of theCivil War.

• Provides effective analysis and links the ways the controversy over the extension of slavery intowestern territories contributed to the coming of the Civil War; treatment may be somewhatuneven.

• May contain minor errors that do not detract from the overall quality of the essay.

• Is well organized and well written.

The 5–7 Essay

• Contains a partially developed thesis that addresses the ways in which the controversy over theextension of slavery into western territories from 1845–1861 contributed to the coming of the CivilWar.

• Supports the thesis with some relevant historical information.

• Provides some analysis and some linkage of the ways in which controversy over the extension of slavery into the western territories contributed to the coming of the Civil War; treatment may beimbalanced and/or implicit.

• May contain errors that do not seriously detract from the quality of the essay.

• Has acceptable organization and writing.

The 2–4 Essay

• Contains an undeveloped or unfocused thesis, or simply paraphrases the question.

• Provides few relevant facts, or lists facts with little or no application to the question.

• May describe the controversies over the extension of slavery into the western territories butprovides little or no explanation of, or linkage to, how they contributed to the coming of the CivilWar; the treatment of 1845–1861 may be seriously imbalanced.

• May contain major errors.

• May be poorly organized and/or written.

The 0–1 Essay

• Lacks a thesis or simply restates the question.• Demonstrates an incompetent or inappropriate response.

• Has little or no understanding of the question.

• Contains substantial errors.

• Is poorly organized and/or written.

The — Essay

• Is completely blank or off topic.







Question 3 — Fact Sheet

1845 John O’Sullivan wrote of “our manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of thecontinent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of libertyand federated self-government entrusted to us.”

U.S. annexed Texas as a slave state when lame-duck president John Tyler convinced Congress topass a joint resolution that admitted the Lone Star Republic to the Union.

1846 Congress affirmed a state of war with Mexico. Polk’s opponents charged him with provoking thewar to satisfy a “slave power” in the South.

Wilmot Proviso:

• Stated that slavery should never exist in any territory taken from Mexico.

• Passed the House but not the Senate.

1848 Treaty of Guadalupe–Hidalgo:

• Included the Mexican Cession.“Conscience Whigs” or anti-slavery Whigs opposed to the Mexican–American War.

Election of 1848:

• Lewis Cass (Democrat) — “popular sovereignty” (squatter sovereignty);

• Zachary Taylor (Whig) — quiet about slavery but was a slaveowner;

• Martin Van Buren (Free Soil).

California Gold Rush (Forty-niners soon increased population to 100,000).

1850 Compromise of 1850 (introduced by Henry Clay: Douglas drove through):

• Admission of California as a free state (16 free states and 15 slave states).

• New Mexico and Utah open to popular sovereignty.

• Texas lost land that would probably become free territory.

• The slave trade was banned in Washington, D.C.

• Fugitive Slave Law of 1850:o Heavy fines and jail sentences for those who helped runaway slaves escape.o The South was losing about a thousand runaway slaves a year.o “Personal liberty laws” in the North.o “We went to bed one night old-fashioned, conservative, Compromise Union

Whigs and waked up stark-mad Abolitionists.”

1852 Election of 1852:

• Franklin Pierce (Democrat) — made national politics an arena where sectional and culturaldifferences over slavery were fought;

• Winfield Scott (Whig) — party split over its candidate and platform (Compromise of 1850);John P. Hale (Free Soil) — won 5 percent of the popular vote.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin — Harriet Beecher Stowe.

1853 Gadsden Purchase (U.S. acquisition of land south of Gila River from Mexico for possible southerntranscontinental railroad line; route was never used).







Question 3 — Fact Sheet (continued)

1854 Black Warrior incident/Ostend Manifesto (reinforced image of Democratic Party as favoringslavery): attempt to provoke a war with Spain to claim Cuba as a slave state.

Kansas–Nebraska Act:• Senator Stephen Douglas;

• Sought transcontinental railroad terminus in Chicago;

• Popular sovereignty in Kansas and Nebraska territories;

• Undid the Missouri Compromise.

Republican Party created.

1855 Bleeding Kansas (open warfare between proslavery and antislavery factions):

• “Border ruffians”/Lecompton and Topeka constitutions;

• “Beecher’s Bibles”;• Attack at Lawrence, Kansas;• John Brown/Pottawatomie Massacre.

1856 William Walker claimed presidency of Nicaragua and legalized slavery.Brooks–Sumner Affair:

• “The crime against Kansas.”

Election of 1856:

• James Buchanan (Democrat) — “Kansas-less” because of an appointment in London;• John C. Fremont (Republican) — against the extension of slavery;• Millard Fillmore (American Party/“Know Nothings”).

1857 Lecompton Constitution (Buchanan’s decision to admit Kansas to the Union with a proslaveryconstitution; defeated in Congress in 1858).

Dred Scott v. Sanford: • Declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional because Congress did not have the

power to ban slavery in the territories (welcomed in the South, condemned in the North).

1858 Lincoln: “A house divided cannot stand.” (Republican Senate nominee acceptance speech inChicago)Lincoln–Douglas debates:

• Freeport Doctrine (Douglas said that the Dred Scott decision made slavery legal in theterritories in theory, but the people of a territory could keep slaves out in practice. Hisstance cost him southern support for the presidency in 1860.)

1859 John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry (northern support shocks the South).

1860 Election of 1860:• John C. Breckinridge (Constitutional Democrats);• Stephen Douglas (National Democrats);• John Bell (Constitutional Union);• Abraham Lincoln (Republicans);• Democratic split allows Lincoln to win.

South Carolina seceded (eventually 11 states secede).







Question 3 — Fact Sheet (continued)

1861 Confederate States of America:

• President Jefferson Davis.

Crittenden amendments to the Constitution:• Restored the 36˚30’ line.

Fort Sumter.

General Information

• Underground Railroad (Harriet Tubman)

• States’ rights argument

• Expansion of Cotton Kingdom

• Industrializing of North (market revolution) vs. slave-based economy in the South

• Debate over morality of slavery

• Growing importance of abolitionist movement

• End of the Second American Party system




2010 SCORING COMMENTARY


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Question 3

Overview

This mainstream question is from a significant period of United States history (1845–1861) and tested

students’ understanding of events leading to the Civil War. It gave students an opportunity to display theirknowledge about the spread of slavery into the western territories and then link their chosen events to thecoming of war.

Sample: 3A

Score: 8

This essay has a clear and well-developed thesis. It has substantial, relevant information and is especiallyeffective in its treatment of the 1840s and the Kansas conflict. It also provides strong analysis and linkageof the events in the western territories and the coming of the Civil War. Although the essay falters slightlytoward the end, it is an excellent treatment of the question and belongs in the top category.

Sample: 3BScore: 5

The thesis in this essay identifies a generalized struggle over congressional power as the source of controversy over the extension of slavery into the western territories, but the linkage is limited to thebalance between free and slave states. The essay contains some relevant historical information — largelycentered around the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas–Nebraska issue and the Dred Scott decision —noting in the process both political and economic reasons for sectional tensions over slavery expansion.

Sample: 3C

Score: 3

This essay has a limited thesis that does not fully address the question. Although several majorcontroversies of 1845–1861 (Mexican Cession, California, Kansas–Nebraska, Dred Scott, the Compromiseof 1850) are mentioned, the discussion is descriptive and is not linked to the extension of slavery into thewestern territories and how that contributed to the coming of the Civil War.

ap10 us history q3

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